More ‘Home Invasion’, than ‘Home Improvement

I did not receive any paperwork prior to their arrival, I had assumed it would be discussed etc when they arrived, but this was not the case. (Therefore I was not provided with any plans for thecwork to be done, nor did I consent to the work.) On the same day, I had roofers fixing a severe leak in the dormer window in the attic bedroom (RIR). I was also trying to work from home. Every time I tried to ask questions regarding what they were doing they shouted me down. It was all very overwhelming. The following day I had to go to London for a hospital appointment. I came home to find that they had cut through my broadband and put a screw through a pipe to my boiler. There is no 4G where I live, so this effectively cut me off from communication.

The whole experience was very stressful. They didn’t let me move my own belongings and didn’t treat me or my possessions with any respect. It is making me have palpitations just recounting the ordeal. My entire house was left an absolute tip, there was plaster and expanding foam on pretty much every surface. It was all rushed, bodged, there are issues with every room. My main concern is the insulation in the RIR; the insulated over the top of soaking wet and visibly mouldy walls and ceiling. Having read the PAS guidelines on RIR insulation, I know for a fact that they didn’t do the work properly. That room is now unfit for habitation; it’s either freezing or baking.

Had I known even a fraction of the mess they would create, I would never have let them in my house. I deeply regret letting them in.

I was without heating and broadband for 10 days. I had to go elsewhere to work. Meanwhile, these men were destroying my house. I contacted the surveyor who visited prior to the work starting and he seemed like he wanted to be helpful but it was obvious that the big boss (who had shouted at me on the phone) was not going to rectify everything I had issues with so I lodged a complaint with their accreditation body. This entire process took 6 months and resulted in UK Eco Solutions losing their NAPIT accreditation. No resolution for me.

In September this year I finally received a response from TrustMark to an email I sent in September 2024. They effectively said there was nothing they could do because the installer had lost their accreditation. They offered to send a dispute manager to ‘record my concerns’. I told them that they already had a thorough report of my concerns and that I would like an independent retrofit coordinator to inspect my property. They then came back stating that UK Eco Solutions is now a ‘new legal entity’ who had recently been accredited by Simply Certification. A quick check on Companies House revealed that the ‘new legal entity’ was incorporated in 2020 and that UK Eco Solutions has the same director as the ‘new’ company, although the two companies are not linked on Companies House, despite having the same director names and business addresses.

Since then I have escalated the complaint, and discovered that my signature was forged on the end of project report. I have reported this to the retrofit coordinator’s accreditation body and I await a sensible response.

Everything about this entire process has been extremely distressing and has pushed my mental health to its limits. There is no transparency, no regulator to protect the homeowners. It is an utter disgrace. These retrofit companies are being paid handsomely by the energy companies who are unwittingly paying contractors in good faith, unaware that they have falsified documentation in order to access this money.

Asking vulnerable customers to have contractors who have caused so much distress and been so dishonest to come back to rectify their appalling quality work, who deny that they have failed to follow procedure is adding insult to injury.